Ross Dunkerton OAM (born 16 July 1945) is an Australian

rally driver Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. Dunkerton is a 5 time Australian Rally Champion and 2 time Asian Pacific Rally Champion. He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2018. Dunkerton is one of only three Australian rally drivers in history to achieve FIA A seeded status (the others being

Chris Atkinson Chris Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finish on an indiv ...

and

Cody Crocker Cody Crocker (born 18 October 1971) is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Crocker won seven titles between 2003 and 2009 and with 24 wins and four consecutive championships is the most successful driver in the history of the Asia-Pacific ...

), and is arguably Australia’s most successful. Ross Dunkerton in the Targa West Rally

Dunkerton was awarded life membership with CAMS in 2011, inducted into the Australian Rally Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame in 2016. Ross Dunkerton in the 2006 Targa West rally

Ross Dunkerton in the 2006 Targa West rally

Dunkerton won the

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S20 ...

in 1991 and 1992 in a

Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 The Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 (Viscous Realtime 4WD) was the range-topping version of Mitsubishi Motors' Galant model, available in the sixth (1987–93), seventh (1993–96) and eighth (1996–2002) generations of the vehicle. Originally introduced to ...

as a full-time factory driver for Mitsubishi Ralliart. In Australia, he won the

Australian Rally Championship The Australia Rally Championship (ARC) is Australia's leading road motor rally competition. A multi-event national championship has been held each year since 1968. Competition - to 2010 The Australia Rally Championship takes in some of the c ...

in 1975, '76, '77, '79 and '83 in Datsun 1600s, 240Zs and 260Zs. Dunkerton also won the

Southern Cross Rally The Southern Cross Rally was a major international rally mainly held in the Port Macquarie region of New South Wales, Australia, between 1966 and 1980. The rally attracted many of the world's leading rally drivers and factory teams. The inaugur ...

in 1980. He won the 2005 and 2006

Targa West Targa West was a rally racing, rally event held in and around Perth, Western Australia between 2005 and 2021. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily, as well as more recent Australian ...

rallies, placing third in the 2007 event.

Personal life

Born in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

,Quartermaine, Braden (3 April 2012)
"Ross Dunkerton at end of road in WA"
''

Perth Now ''The Sunday Times'' is a tabloid Sunday newspaper published by Western Press Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Seven West Media, in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia. Founded as The West Australian Sunday Times, it was renamed The Sun ...

''. Retrieved on 3 April 2012. he was previously a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the

Town of Bassendean The Town of Bassendean is a local government area in the northeastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, west of the industrial centre of Midland and about northeast of Perth's central business district. The Town cove ...

, but moved with his family to

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

in late 2007. Ross is married to his wife Lisa has two sons, Aaron and Flynn.

Career

Dunkerton is a regular competitor in numerous tarmac and historic gravel events in both Australia and New Zealand. He competed in the 2009 Otago Rally of New Zealand in his newly purchased MK II BDA Ford Escort rally car. Dunkerton is one of only two Australian drivers to have ever stood on a podium of a World Rally Championship event, the other being Chris Atkinson. In 1992, Dunkerton finished third in the Rothmans Rally of New Zealand, round 7 of the 1992 World Rally Championship.

Television presenting

After winning almost 100 rallies in a career spanning three decades, former International Rally Driver Ross Dunkerton turned his hand to full-time television presenting in 1995. In 1997, Dunkerton won a National Media award, testimony to the adage that he brings to television, the same determination, wit and effort that saw him enjoy so much success in his sporting career. Dunkerton has taken on many roles, his most current being a full-time presenter for the Western Australian lifestyle show, Home in WA and the automotive series, Zoom TV. He has also presented coverage for a variety of motorsport events including the Variety Club Bash and coverage of the Australian Rally Championship on network ten.

Career results

References

External links

Contact details at local government websiteResults and profile
Rallybase.nl * https://web.archive.org/web/20120812011210/http://www.rossdunkertonrally.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkerton, Ross Australian rally drivers 1945 births Living people Sportspeople from Fremantle Racing drivers from Western Australia